Pirelli boss says issues with China's Sinochem will be fixed
Sinochem, which owns a 37% stake, has crossed swords with the company and its second largest shareholder Camfin, which claim that a large Chinese presence in Pirelli poses a threat to its ambitions to expand its business in the United States.
Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli's executive vice chairman, controller of Camfin and de facto top boss, said at a conference in Milan that the company was on the right track towards a positive outcome.
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Reuters
12 minutes ago
- Reuters
China's factory output, retail sales growth slump in blow to economy
BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - China's factory output growth slumped to an eight-month low in July, while retail sales slowed sharply, raising pressure on policymakers to roll out more stimulus to revive domestic demand and ward off external shocks to the $19 trillion economy. The underwhelming indicators come as officials navigate pressure on multiple fronts ranging from U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies to extreme weather, excessive competition in the domestic market, and chronic weakness in the property sector. Industrial output grew 5.7% year-on-year in July, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Friday, the lowest reading since November 2024, and compared with a 6.8% rise in June. It missed forecasts for a 5.9% increase in a Reuters poll. Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, expanded 3.7% in July, the slowest pace since December 2024, and cooling from a 4.8% rise in the previous month. They missed a forecast gain of 4.6%. A temporary trade truce reached between China and the United States in mid-May, which was extended by another 90-days this week, has prevented U.S. tariff rates on Chinese goods from returning to prohibitively high levels. However, Chinese manufacturers' profits continue to take a hit from subdued demand and factory-gate deflation at home. "The economy is quite reliant on government support, and the issue is those efforts were 'front-loaded' to the early months of 2025, and by now their impact has somewhat faded out," said Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. That policy support has helped the world's second-largest economy avoid a widely anticipated sharp slowdown, along with factories taking advantage of the U.S.-China trade truce to front-load shipments, but analysts say weak demand at home and global risks will drag on growth in coming quarters. Fixed asset investment grew just 1.6% in the first seven months of the year from the same period last year, compared with an expected 2.7% rise. It had expanded 2.8% in the first half. "Firms may be running on existing capacity rather than building new plants," said Yuhan Zhang, principal economist at The Conference Board's China Center. "The July industrial value-add breakdown tells a more nuanced story than the weak fixed asset investment headline," he added, pointing to China's automobile manufacturing, railway, shipbuilding, aerospace and other transport equipment industries as "outliers (that) indicate policy-driven, high-tech and strategic sectors are still attracting substantial capital." Beijing has recently stepped up policy measures and made pledges to prop up domestic consumption and curb excessive price competition, as authorities strive to lift economic growth towards the government's 2025 target of around 5%. Still, consumers show few signs of loosening their purse strings. China's new yuan loans contracted in July for the first time in 20 years, separate bank lending data showed on Wednesday, pointing to weak private sector demand. A protracted slowdown in China's property sector continues to put pressure on consumer spending, as real estate remains a key store of household wealth. New home prices extended a stagnant phase of over two years, falling 2.8% in July year-on-year, versus a 3.2% drop in June. Economic activity has also been impacted by extreme weather, from record-breaking heat to storms and floods across the country, disrupting factory production and day-to-day business operations. The latest Reuters poll projected China's GDP growth to slow to 4.5% in the third quarter and 4.0% in the fourth, suggesting that Beijing has its work cut out in getting households to spend more at a time of uncertainty over job security and mounting headwinds from Trump's global trade war. China's 2025 GDP growth is forecast to cool to 4.6% - falling short of the official goal - from last year's 5.0% and ease even further to 4.2% in 2026, according to the poll.
Sky News
42 minutes ago
- Sky News
Russia's master negotiator knows Trump's weaknesses and will try to exploit them
Vladimir Putin will know exactly how he wants this to play out. He is the master negotiator who's been doing this for decades. He'll be across all the details, the history and the legal arguments. And he'll know that his opponent is not. His strategy will be to exploit that. I think the ultimate aim for the Kremlin leader is to convince Donald Trump that the quickest path to peace is a deal on Russia's terms. But he can't present it like that. He'll have to give the appearance of making concessions because he knows the American president can't lose face here. He must have something to show from this summit. 3:44 That something could be the promise of a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which Trump has once again talked up the chances of. But if that's the case, I suspect it'll be a loose promise, with strings attached. Something the White House can claim is progress, but may prove unachievable. I expect the Russian president will seek to play on Trump's desire for a rapid resolution to the conflict and his desire to take credit for it. That's why Putin has been buttering him up ahead of the meeting, praising Trump's "energetic and sincere" efforts to find peace. I think he'll also try to appeal to Trump's transactional nature and seek to tempt him with various sweeteners that could come from siding with Russia. 4:41 That means things like rare earth deals and joint projects in the Arctic, which is why the Russian delegation includes finance minister Anton Siluanov and Kremlin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev. It also includes defence minister Andrei Belousov, which might suggest that Putin is serious about proposing a deal on nuclear arms control, after raising the prospect of it on Thursday. Only one pact remains between the US and Russia, and it expires in February. A new one would almost certainly be a prize the American president would go for. 2:54
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Birkenstock sales step up in ‘ugly shoe summer'
Price rises and strong sales of closed-toe clogs helped the shoe maker Birkenstock beat profit expectations as it became the latest beneficiary of the 'ugly shoe summer'. The German sandal maker said sales rose 16% in the three months to the end of June, if currency fluctuations were excluded. The average price of its products sold rose by about 5% and the number of items sold rose by about 8%. There was demand for its suede leather closed-toe Boston clogs, which sell for as much as £250 and generally cost more than the brand's more well-known sandals, which are priced from £105 for a leather version. Total sales at the company, which listed on the US stock market in October 2023 valued at $7.5bn (£5.5bn), rose 12% to €635m (£546m) in the quarter with net profit up 73% to €129m. This summer there has been an upturn in popularity of quirky footwear, from rubber flip-flops to glove-like fitness shoes that fit each individual toe. However, the 'ugly' footwear brand Crocs last week reported a 30% slump in sales amid new competition from split-toe shoes to flip-flops and Birkenstock's clogs, which come in plastic as well as leather. Known for its cork-lined sandals, Birkenstock pledged to make its offering more varied, with more clogs, trainers, shoes and boots when it launched on the stock market. The company makes 95% of its shoes at its own factories in Germany. Its chief executive, Oliver Reichert, said it was 'well-positioned to manage the impact' of new US import tariffs of 15% on goods imported from the EU. He said the higher costs would be managed through a combination of 'pricing adjustment, cost discipline and inventory management to protect the long-term health and profitability of the Birkenstock brand'. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Reichert said that the company was on track to achieve full-year sales growth at the top end of expectations of 15% to 17%.
